Four More Huskers Earn All-America Honors

<?xml:namespace prefix="st1" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"?>

Fayetteville, Ark. - Four Nebraska athletes captured All-America honors as the 2006 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships concluded at the Randal Tyson Indoor Track Center on Saturday.<?xml:namespace prefix="o" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"?>

 

The performances helped push Nebraska to dual top-20 men’s and women’s team finishes for the fourth consecutive year. The Husker men tied BYU for 12th place after totaling 16 points, while the NU women’s 17 points were good for a tie for 13th place with Michigan.

 

Ashley Selig claimed her fifth straight All-America accolade with a fifth-place finish in the women’s pentathlon. The Husker senior posted a score of 4,147, which fell shy of first-place Jacquelyn Johnson’s (ArizonaState) total of 4,287. Selig, who was attempting to match the NCAA title she won as a junior in 2005, struggled for much of the day. She failed to reach season-best performances in each of the five individual events.

 

“I would like to (start) the whole day over, but you only get one chance and that’s why the national championships are so unique,” Selig said. “It really puts perspective on last year’s meet for me. It was a great accomplishment. I’m proud of the girls today who really had great scores. I just didn’t put it together today. It was a tough day. I just have to bounce back, and it’s on to outdoor season now.”

 

Teammate Sara Jane Baker fell short in the bid for her first career All-America award with an 11th-place pentathlon score of 3,995. Baker opened the competition by matching her personal best of 8.98 in the 60-meter hurdles, but sub-par scores in the shot put and long jump marred her performance.

 

The Husker men received a boost in the high jump, as Dusty Jonas and Aaron Plas both placed among the top-eight performers after clearing 7-3 3/4. Jonas earned fifth place and Plas seventh due to order of misses. The clearance by Plas tied the career best he set as a junior in 2005. Both Huskers notched their third career All-America accolades.

 

“I thought (Jonas and Plas) did a really nice job,” Head Coach Gary Pepin said. “I wish we would have had some more competitive attempts at the last height, but they both competed hard. For Aaron, he’s a guy who’s been hurt all season, so that was a good (finish) for him.”

 

Becky Breisch claimed her ninth career national honor, and sixth in the women’s shot put, with a fourth-place finish Saturday. This season’s Big 12 indoor champion in the event, Breisch recorded a mark of 56-9 1/2 on her last attempt of the finals to move up from her previous standing of fifth.

 

Jenny Green also competed Saturday in the women’s pole vault, matching her season best of 13-5 1/2 to finish in ninth place. Green, a two-time All-American as a freshman in 2004, fell just shy of claiming her third career award. The mark was only one-quarter inch off the season best that she set to win the Big 12 indoor title two weeks ago.

 

Nebraska, which entered the NCAA meet with high hopes, ended the weekend with several high individual finishers. A total of six Huskers reached All-America status, including Arturs Abolins, who captured the first men’s long jump title in school history on Friday.

 

“What happens with most track meets is you have some good things, some not so good things and some sub-par performances,” Pepin said. “We really (experienced) that the entire meet.”

 

The NCAA Indoor Championships concludes Nebraska’s 2006 indoor track and field season. The Huskers take next week off from competition. NU’s multi-event athletes open the outdoor campaign March 24-25 with the Jim Click Combined Events in Tucson, Ariz. Much of the rest of the squad follows suit the following weekend in Palo Alto, Calif., at the Stanford Invitational.

 

Women’s Team Scores:
1. Texas ? 51 points

2. Stanford ? 36 points

3. ArizonaState ? 30 points

4. North Carolina ? 29 points

5. Miami ? 27 points

-------------------------------

t13. Nebraska ? 17 points

t13. Michigan ? 17 points

 

Men’s Team Scores:
1. Arkansas ? 53 points

2. LSU ? 45 points

3. FloridaState ? 41 points

4. Texas ? 35 points

5. Tennessee ? 25 points

--------------------------------

t12. Nebraska ? 16 points

t12. BYU ? 16 points